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Every August, on the first Tuesday night, neighborhoods all over Suffolk's 430 square miles join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the Annual National Night Out (NNO) crime, drug and gang prevention event.
National Night Out is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW), and co-sponsored locally by the Suffolk Police Department. The annual event involves over 37 million people in 10,000 communities in 50 states, Canadian cities and military bases worldwide.
National Night Out is designed to:
- heighten crime and drug prevention awareness;
- generate support for and participation in local anti-crime efforts;
- strengthen neighborhood spirit and police - community partnerships; and
- send a message to criminals, letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
Our Project 365 for 2009, "Leading Suffolk: Our Future...Our Responsibility," was undoubtedly successful. Lessons learned, goals achieved and relationships made will continue to benefit our city and its citizens for years to come. But even with this year's success, there is much work to be done. As Suffolk continues its unprecedented evolution as one of the fastest growing cities in the State of Virginia, we recognize that we'll need to maintain the momentum gained by City leaders and community members as we continue to bring together citizens across our 430 square miles — from our most rural communities in southern Suffolk to our high-tech modeling and simulation corridor in the northern part of our city.
Public Safety is critical to our growth and well-being as a city. It doesn't matter how many homes we build, businesses we attract or recreational opportunities we create, if our citizens don't feel safe, we have nothing. Ushering in a new decade will be an exhilarating, educational journey for Suffolk as we announce our Project 365 theme for National Night Out 2010: "A Safe Odyssey."
Suffolk neighborhoods will host special events such as block parties, cookouts, parades, visits from police and city officials, flashlight walks, contests, youth activities and anti-crime rallies.
The event is truly a citywide effort that grows larger each year with community members and several agencies including the Office of Commonwealth Attorney, Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Communications, Suffolk Sheriff's Department, Suffolk Fire and Rescue, Suffolk Public Utilities, Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing and Department of Tourism committing their time, effort and resources to the events.
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